William Butler Yeats

His Bargain

His Bargain - meaning Summary

Claiming Authority Over Fate

The speaker rejects abstract metaphysical speculation and insists on a personal, preexisting agreement that determines love and fate. He dismisses philosophical devices like Plato’s spindle as irrelevant to ordinary human change. Instead he claims he made a binding bargain with the single thread of life "before the thread began," implying a prior, unbreakable commitment that endures until the last thread runs out. The poem centers on agency, destiny, and a stubborn, intimate covenant.

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Who talks of Plato's spindle; What set it whirling round? Eternity may dwindle, Time is unwound, Dan and Jerry Lout Change their loves about. However they may take it, Before the thread began I made, and may not break it When the last thread has run, A bargain with that hair And all the windings there.

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